Unfamiliar
by NameForsaken
Summary: After years of searching, Yang finally runs into her biological mother in the street. Will Yang finally get the answers she's been looking for? One-shot.


_What's taking her so long?_

Yang tapped her foot impatiently against the hard, marble floor, and glanced once more around the busy, cluttered shop. Customers dressed in elegant suits and business attire roamed the racks with great care, a few peeking out behind articles of expensive clothing every-so-often to shoot Yang a judgmental glare. She rolled her eyes as she slowly turned her gaze back toward the front of the shop, where Weiss was browsing a glass display of jewelry and flashy accessories for weaponry.

Her teammate furrowed her eyebrows in deep concentration as she leaned over the display, letting out a small sigh as she reached the end of the selection. She straightened her back, and stepped away from the display, turning instead toward a coat rack she'd rifled through at least three times since their arrival.

"Did you find anything yet?" Yang asked her, taking a few strides in her direction.

"If I did, we wouldn't still be here, would we?" Weiss said, a hint of frustration in her voice. She let go of the sleeve of a white, fur-collared trench coat she'd been eying, and dropped her hands to her sides. "I just don't know if any of this will do."

Yang bit her lip. "Well, what does your sister like?"

She shrugged. "Pretty much anything I _don't_ like."

"Oh... She's one of _those_ siblings." Yang folded her arms over her chest. "Look, as much as I _love_ being stared at by rich people who think they're better than me, I'm getting a little claustrophobic in this place."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "I think you're being paranoid."

"I _think_ I'm going to go wait outside." She gave her teammate a light pat on the shoulder, then started toward the shop's exit. "I'll give you ten more minutes, then I'm going back to find Blake and Ruby."

She pulled her scroll from her pocket as she pushed through the front door, and stepped out into the bright, bustling streets of Vale. Just as she was about to compose a new text to her younger sister, she lost her footing on a crack in the sidewalk, and collided into another tall, warm human body. She fell to the ground with a _thud_, cussing to herself as her scroll landed not far from the other person's feet.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the other person said, reaching down for the device. She extended her free hand to Yang, and met her gaze with kind, violet eyes.

Yang immediately felt her heart drop into the pit of her stomach as she studied the woman's long, dark, tousled hair and pale facial features that were much like her own. Her throat became dry as she took the woman's hand, and allowed herself to be helped to her feet.

"Are you alright?" the woman asked her as she passed Yang her scroll, but the words barely registered as Yang began to search frantically through the photographs in her image gallery. When she found the one she was looking for, it took her a moment to process what she was seeing.

"I..." she started, glancing once more at the woman who stood before her, concerned. She sucked in a deep breath, and turned the photograph toward the woman. "This... Is this you?"

The woman frowned. "Where did you get that?"

Yang's heart began to race at the recognition in the woman's eyes, a combination of fear and exhilaration welling inside of her as she realized what this meant—she had finally found _her_. She didn't hear the sound of the bells ringing behind her as Weiss stepped out of the shop and onto the sidewalk, and she didn't hear the words that left her lips as she tried to call out to Yang.

"I'm sorry," Yang said after a moment, realizing the woman was waiting for an answer. She cleared her throat, and tried her best to make sense of her situation. "I found this a few years back in an old photo album my father kept in his study... Maybe you know him? Taiyang Xiao Long?"

The woman's eyes widened at the mention of Yang's father's name, and it was all the proof Yang needed to know that she was right. The woman's concerned look quickly changed into one of remorse, and her body language suddenly became more guarded than before. "This must be difficult for you," she murmured, lowering her gaze. "But I'm not the person you think I am."

Yang blinked, the woman's words taking her off-guard. She tightened her grip on her scroll, and slowly dropped her arm back to her side. "Did you, or did you not, leave a baby with my father seventeen years ago?"

The woman sighed. "Yes, I did." She lifted her head, and gave Yang an apologetic smile. "But I left that life behind for a reason... I was young, and the person I was is not someone I'm proud of."

"I don't understand," Yang said, shaking her head. "You—you didn't even want to _try_?"

"I'm sorry," she commiserated, slumping her shoulders. "I can't give you what you want, dear." She took a step back from Yang, and glanced behind her at something in the distance. "Look, I have somewhere I need to be. You seem like a strong woman, and if you're anything like your father, you're also very tenderhearted... Don't punish yourself for a decision I made over a decade ago. I'm not worth your time."

Yang clenched her fists, and forced back a wall of tears. She was not going to let this woman—this _stranger—_get the best of her. She should have listened to her father all those years ago, to her Uncle Qrow when he begged her to stop searching for answers. They'd told her multiple times that going after her mother would lead her nowhere, but she had just been so determined to prove them wrong. It nearly killed her, now, realizing that they had always been right.

She inhaled deeply, and mustered up enough courage to ask the woman one last question. "Can you at least tell me your name?"

The woman hesitated for a moment, then gave her a fragile smile. "I don't go by the name your father would know me as. It may be for the best that you don't know, either." She laid a hand on Yang's shoulder, and gave it a gentle squeeze. "How about this? If we ever run into each other again, I'll tell you what you want to know. But for now, I've got to get going. I promise I won't forget you."

Yang's muscles tensed underneath the woman's touch, and she gritted her teeth as she gave her a slight nod. She kept her head down until she no longer felt the woman's hand on her shoulder, and could no longer see her shadow looming over Yang's body. She waited until the sounds of the woman's footsteps had faded into nothing before turning her back to her, and raising a fist. She ignored Weiss's concerned pleas as she lurched her body forward, and slammed her fist into the rough, sturdy bricks that lined the shop she had walked out of just minutes earlier.

As a tiny trail of debris broke free from the bricks and fell to the ground, a sharp pain shot up through Yang's arm, and caused her to wince. She knew she could've hit the wall harder if she wanted to, but it wasn't worth the price the damage would cost. She pressed her arm firmly against the wall, and buried her face in her sleeve, finally allowing the tears to escape from her eyes.

"Yang," Weiss said softly from behind her, wrapping her delicate arms around Yang's body, and pulling her away from the wall. "Come on."

She took a step back in Weiss's direction, and allowed her teammate to lead her into a deserted alley further down the street. Once they were alone, Yang turned to face Weiss, and in a moment of desperation, she threw her arms arms around the girl's shoulders.

Weiss stiffened, and let out a quiet sigh. She lifted a cool hand to Yang's back as the blonde let out a choked sob, and she rested her head gently beside hers. "That's the woman you told Blake about?" she asked.

Yang closed her eyes, and hid her face in her teammate's jacket. "Please—don't—tell—Ruby—about—this," she sputtered, ashamed of how weak she sounded. The last thing she wanted was for Weiss to go back and report this incident to their other teammates. Ruby still didn't know the truth about Yang's mother, and telling her now, when Yang still wasn't sure what to make of the woman, would only complicate things more than they already were. All she wanted was to go back to Beacon and pretend that that afternoon had never even happened.

"Your secret's safe with me," Weiss said. She pulled away from Yang, and gave her a timid smile. "If it makes you feel any better, I didn't end up finding anything for my sister."

Yang sniffled, and wiped away a tear with the back of her hand. She tried her best to return the girl's smile. "Do you want to keep looking?"

Weiss shook her head. "It's not important right now." She took Yang's hand, and held it up to her face. She smirked at the unsightly cuts that covered Yang's knuckles. "You're such a brute."

"I'll take that as a compliment," she joked halfheartedly, in spite of the pain that seared through her bones and through her heart. She didn't know how long it was going to take to get over the fact that her mother was a flake. But at least her search was over, and at least she didn't have to put herself, her friends, or her family in danger any longer to get the answers she had been so desperately seeking. At least now she could wait, and allow herself to heal before crossing that bridge again. And at least she knew, no matter how bumpy her path became, that she wouldn't ever have to walk it alone.


End file.
